VOA慢速英语听力：研究：蜱叮咬引起的肉类疾病越来越常见 Meat Sickness from Tick Bites Getting More Common.
More than 100,000 people in the United States have become allergic to red meat since 2010 in reaction to tick bites, the government reports.
美国政府的报告显示，自2010年以来，有超过100,000人因对蜱虫叮咬产生过敏反应而对红肉过敏。
Medical researchers say they believe many more people have the allergy and do not know it.
医学研究人员表示，他们认为还有更多人对这种过敏症有反应，但并不知情。
The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released two reports on the subject recently.
美国国家疾病控制与预防中心最近发布了两份关于这个问题的报告。
Ticks are very small animals that feed on the blood of other animals.
蜱虫是一种吸取其他动物血液的微小动物。
One report estimated that as many as 450,000 Americans have developed the meat allergy. That would make it the 10th most common food allergy in the U.S., said Dr. Scott Commins. The University of North Carolina researcher co-wrote both reports.
一份报告估计，多达450,000名美国人患有肉类过敏。北卡罗来纳大学的研究员斯科特·康明斯博士表示，这使得肉类过敏在美国成为第十种最常见的食物过敏。
Health officials said they do not know of any confirmed deaths. However, people with the allergy have described it as strange and terrifying.
卫生官员表示他们并不知道是否有确认的死亡案例。然而，患有这种过敏症的人描述其症状为奇怪和可怕。
“I never connected it with any food because it was hours after eating,” said one patient, Bernadine Heller-Greenman.
一位名叫伯纳丁·海勒-格林曼的患者表示：“我从未把它与任何食物联系在一起，因为发作是在吃饭几小时后发生的。”
The reaction, called alpha-gal syndrome, happens when an infected person eats beef, pork, or other meat of mammals. Taking in other mammal products, such as milk, also causes the reaction.
这种称为α-gal综合征的过敏反应发生在感染的人吃牛肉、猪肉或其他哺乳动物的肉类食品时。摄入其他哺乳动物产品，如牛奶，也会引发这种反应。
A sugar called alpha-gal exists in mammal meat and in the saliva of ticks. When the sugar enters the body through the skin, the body’s own defense, or immune, system reacts too strongly.
哺乳动物的肉类和蜱虫的唾液中含有一种叫做α-gal的糖。当这种糖通过皮肤进入人体时，人体自身的防御系统（或免疫系统）会产生过强的反应。
Scientists saw such reactions in patients taking a cancer drug that was made in mouse cells containing the alpha-gal sugar. But in 2011 researchers first reported that it could spread through tick bites, too.
科学家在接受一种由含有α-gal糖的小鼠细胞制成的抗癌药物的患者中观察到这种反应。但是在2011年，研究人员首次报告说这种过敏也可能通过蜱虫叮咬传播。
They tied it to the lone star tick. Scientists say the ticks live mainly in the eastern and southern U.S.
他们将其与孤星蜱虫联系在一起。科学家表示这种蜱虫主要生活在美国东部和南部地区。
One of the studies released recently examined test results from the main U.S. private laboratory looking for alpha-gal antibodies. Those tests showed the number of people who had the antibodies rose from about 13,000 in 2017 to 19,000 in 2022.
最近发布的一项研究检查了美国主要私人实验室寻找α-gal抗体的测试结果。这些测试显示，拥有这种抗体的人数从2017年的约13,000人增加到2022年的19,000人。
Experts say cases may have increased for several reasons. They say the lone star tick population is expanding. They also suggest more doctors might be learning about the disease and ordering tests for it.
专家表示，病例可能因为几个原因而增加。他们表示，孤星蜱虫的数量在增加。他们还表示，可能有更多的医生了解这种疾病并为此进行测试。
But many doctors are not.
但是很多医生并不了解这种疾病。
The second study was based on a survey last year of 1,500 U.S. general care doctors and health professionals. It found nearly half of them had never heard of alpha-gal syndrome, and only five percent said they felt very sure they could identify it. Researchers used that information to estimate the number of people with the allergy — 450,000.
第二项研究是基于去年对1,500名美国全科医生和医疗专业人员进行的一项调查。调查发现近一半的医生从未听说过α-gal综合征，只有5%的医生表示他们非常确定自己能够识别它。研究人员根据这些信息估计了患有这种过敏症的人数为450,000人。
People with this condition can experience symptoms including hives, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, difficulty breathing, and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue or eyes. Unlike some other food allergies, which happen soon after eating, these reactions hit hours later.
患有这种病症的人可能会出现荨麻疹、恶心、呕吐、腹泻、剧烈腹痛、呼吸困难以及唇、喉咙、舌头或眼睛的肿胀。与其他一些食物过敏反应不同，这些反应在进食后几小时才会发生。
Some patients have only stomach symptoms. The American Gastroenterological Association says people with unexplained diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain should be tested for the syndrome.
一些患者只有胃部症状。美国胃肠病学会表示，出现腹泻、恶心和腹痛等原因不明的症状的人应该进行α-gal综合征的测试。
Doctors advise people with the allergy to stop eating meat and other foods that cause the reaction and to have epinephrine available to them at all times. And, doctors say, avoid tick bites.
医生建议患有这种过敏症的人停止食用引发过敏反应的肉类和其他食物，并随时携带肾上腺素。医生还说要避免叮咬蜱虫。
The allergy can go away in some people. Commins said he has seen that happen in about 15 to 20 percent of his patients. Staying free of tick bites is extremely important.
在某些人身上，这种过敏症可能会自行消失。康明斯表示，他看到大约15%至20%的患者病情会有所改善。远离蜱虫叮咬非常重要。
“The tick bites are central to this. They perpetuate the allergy,” he said.
他说：“蜱虫叮咬在其中起着关键作用。它们使这种过敏症持续存在。”
One of his patients is Heller-Greenman, a 78-year-old art historian in New York. She spends summers on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. She said she is used to getting bitten by ticks on the island. She has had Lyme disease, also caused by tick bites, four times.
他的患者之一是78岁的纽约艺术历史学家海勒-格林曼。她在马萨诸塞州的玛莎葡萄园度过夏天。她说她习惯了在岛上被蜱虫叮咬。她曾四次患有由蜱虫叮咬引起的莱姆病。
About five years ago, Heller-Greenman started experiencing terrible, itchy hives on her back, middle and legs in the middle of the night. Her doctors decided it was an allergic reaction but could not identify the cause.
大约五年前，海勒-格林曼开始在半夜时分背部、腰部和腿部出现严重的瘙痒性荨麻疹。她的医生认为这是过敏反应，但无法确定原因。
She never ate a lot of meat, but one day in January 2020 she had two beef meals in a row. Six hours after eating the second, she woke up nauseated, then vomited, had diarrhea and a lack of balance, or dizziness. She passed out three times.
她以前从来没有吃过很多肉，但在2020年1月的一天，她连续吃了两顿牛肉。吃完第二顿后六个小时，她醒来时感到恶心，接着呕吐、腹泻，失去了平衡，还出现了头晕现象。她晕倒了三次。
Doctors identified alpha-gal syndrome as the cause soon after the incident. Heller-Greenman was told to avoid ticks and to stop eating red meat and milk products. There have been no allergic reactions since.
事件发生后不久，医生确认她患有α-gal综合征。海勒-格林曼被告知要避免蜱虫叮咬，并停止食用红肉和乳制品。从那以后，她没有再出现过过敏反应。
“I have one grandchild that watches me like a hawk,” she said, making sure she reads food labels and avoids foods that could cause a reaction.
她说：“我有一个孙子，他像鹰一样监视着我。”她确保仔细阅读食品标签，并避免食用可能引发过敏反应的食物。
“I feel very lucky, really, that this has worked out for me,” she said. “Not all doctors are knowledgeable about this.”
她说：“我感到非常幸运，真的，这对我来说很奏效。”“并不是所有的医生都对这个问题有所了解。”
I'm Andrew Smith.
我是安德鲁·史密斯。
Words in This Story
saliva — n. fluid from the mouth
survey — n. a kind of study in which people are asked question to find something out about a subject
symptom — n. a sign that disease is present
hives — n. (pl.) a condition when the skin becomes red, swollen, and itchy
nausea — n. a feeling of sickness in the stomach
vomiting –n. to expel the food in your stomach out of your mouth
pass out –v. (phrasal) to lose consciousness
perpetuate –v. to cause something (that should be stopped) to continue
label –n. a piece of paper on a product that has information about that product for people who want to know more about it
